|
|
|
Thursday, June 21, 2001
Magic stunned by NBA's grinch-like tactic
ESPN.com news services
|
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Orlando Magic team president Bob Vander Weide has drawn a line in the sand with the NBA over a $15,000 fine.
| |  | |
| Hill |
The Magic are refusing to pay the fine for giving money to Grant Hill's favorite charity, according to a report in the Orlando Sentinel.
The Magic gave $50,000 to Seniors First in Orlando this spring after Hill was named the winner of the Rich and Helen DeVos Community Enrichment Award, given annually to a Magic player who is recognized for outstanding community involvement.
The Sentinel also reported that the charity has offered to repay the fine to the NBA on the Magic's behalf. The Magic appreciated the gesture by Seniors First, which benefits the area's senior citizens, but turned down its proposal.
"We have to say thank you to Seniors First and it's very kind of them, but we're going to deal with the NBA on this," said Cari Coats, vice president of business development for RDV Sports and the Magic. "We're not going to pay the fine. There's been a line drawn in the sand between the NBA and us."
The NBA notified the Magic on June 4 that the donation was viewed as circumvention of the league's salary-cap rules. The fine, which was due to be paid by June 15, has gone unpaid at the insistence of Vander Weide, who personally wrote "Do Not Pay" on it before it left his desk.
"My first thought was, 'you have got to be kidding me.' It was almost laughable, in a way," Vander Weide told the Sentinel on Wednesday. "I was incredibly disappointed. We have no intention of paying this. And the league should know that."
This is the sixth consecutive year the team has presented the award and $50,000 donation, although it's the first time the Magic were made aware of any problem. The winner is chosen by a panel of community leaders. The players never see any of the money because it goes directly to their chosen charities.
"From a league that encourages us to run good community programs, this came from out of the blue. It was a real slap in the face," Vander Weide told the newspaper. "And we got no explanation. We're still waiting for one."
Joe Litvin, the NBA's general counsel, said Wednesday night that this issue isn't new.
"A charitable contribution on behalf of a player always has been a cap violation," Litvin said. "It seems hypertechnical, but we don't have room to make exceptions."
"I would call this a minor infraction, but it's a rule we have to enforce," Litvin said.
The NBA viewed the donation to Hill as adding to his contract value, which already is at the maximum allowed under the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the NBA Players Association.
Hill -- a five-time All-Star -- only played in four games last season after the Magic signed him to a a seven-year, $92 million contract in free agency. He is expected to return to action next season.
"In all honesty, these kind of things are often not brought to our attention, and the Magic may not have been aware that this was considered a violation," Litvin said.
"This is what the NBA is supposed to be about, giving back to the community," said Sheri McInvale, spokesman for the Seniors First. "It sounds like semantics to me."
|
|
|
|
